The arrival of Callum Davies has been described as a like-for-like replacement for outgoing Faversham captain Connor Essam by manager Tommy Warrilow.
Town have signed ex-Folkestone captain Davies as he leaves Cheriton Road after making nearly 350 appearances.
Davies and Essam, both 31, are similar sort of defenders - and are close friends having started out together at Gillingham.
Warrilow said: “The beauty of this signing was that Connor and Callum are best mates.
“Obviously, they go back to their Gills days together. It was just about waiting to see what Connor was doing.
“He was debating whether he could do it (stay for another season) or not. But at the end of the day, he wanted more time away from the game with his family and he just didn’t want to mess us about.
“With that, we jumped to get Cal. I let them two talk because Callum wanted to make sure Connor was adamant in his decision.
“Once that was clear, we decided to take it further and got it over the line.
“I’m delighted. It’s a similar replacement, isn’t it?
"We have replaced experience with experience.
“I’m sure Connor will come down in the season with his family. His circumstances might change, I don’t know.
“The demographic of a player off the field is just as important for me as it is on the pitch.
“They need to be approachable to fans and sociable because that helps to make the team a stronger team.
"I know Callum buys into that.”
Ambitious Southern Counties East Premier Division Faversham have beaten off stiff competition to get Davies’ signature.
“I was looking at it as a win-win situation,” Warrilow noted. “I wanted Connor to stay but I let him make his decision.
“When he did - Callum wasn't short on offers - but he had been willing to wait. He has just moved into a new house and has a few things going on.
"It was important to get over the line.”
With Essam moving on, the Lilywhites will need to give the armband to someone new this season.
Davies spent much of his successful Invicta stint as skipper but will not necessarily take over from Essam in that sense.
“I will make a decision on that over pre-season,” confirmed Warrilow. “There’s some experienced players and some that have been there for a few years.
“Sometimes, it might be someone that takes people by surprise. The main thing was to just get Callum over the line and we will cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Also arriving is midfielder Henry Muggeridge, who joins from rivals Snodland.
Warrilow said: “I know Henry from back in the day.
“I took him from Bristol City when I was at Tonbridge. I had him at Ashford for a little while, as well but he got injured.
“These boys have all been around. But they’re not coming here to see their careers out with their feet up.
"Like it or not, we’re going to be favourites again this year.
“We will not get plaudits for winning games, there will be a fanfare when we lose one, but these players are big enough and ugly enough to deal with it.”
While 35-goal striker Stefan Payne is also set to stay put, ex-Gillingham midfielder Billy Bingham has left the club.
But Warrilow, who says he’s satisfied with the squad he has assembled despite not ruling out further summer additions,
explained: “It’s nothing personal.
"I’ve been doing it long enough to know it’s not because I don’t like anyone or they don’t like me.
“I think we have gone about it quite quietly this year.
"That suits me and that’s been quite nice for the club.”
